Comparison of a quantitative treadmill exercise score with standard electrocardiographic criteria in screening asymptomatic young men for coronary artery disease.

A computer-derived treadmill exercise score that quantifies the electrocardiographic response to exercise has been reported to have a high sensitivity (87 per cent) and specificity (92 per cent) in patients with a high prevalence of coronary artery disease. To test its accuracy in young, asymptomatic men with a low prevalence of coronary artery disease, we evaluated the responses of 377 military officers (mean age, 36.6 years) by two independent methods. According to standard electrocardiographic criteria, 45 of the subjects (12 per cent) had positive tests, whereas the treadmill exercise score indicated that only 3 (less than 1 per cent) had positive tests. Since two of these three had left ventricular hypertrophy and met only the criteria for the latter without associated coronary artery disease, the treadmill exercise score predicted that only 1 of 377 subjects would have clinically important coronary artery disease. Coronary arteriography, performed in 10 persons with the most positive scores on standard treadmill tests and the highest scores for risk factors, showed that nine subjects did not have coronary artery disease and that one had single-vessel disease (the same subject who the treadmill score predicted would have mild disease). The treadmill exercise score appears to improve the diagnostic specificity of exercise electrocardiography and may be more useful than values on standard stress tests in screening asymptomatic populations for coronary artery disease.